Vishwanath Dinkar Patekar aka Nana Patekar is almost my contemporary in age. Hardly a difference of 1 or 2 in years. I don't know him personally at all, forget about being a friend or one from his inner circle. Neither I am his fan nor follower. But somewhere along we probably bond, don't know of what kind.
It so happened that my brother shifted abroad and our mother came to stay with us. Along with her, came our ancestral Ganapati, a tradition running in the family for more than a century. I started bringing Ganapati home for her. After her demise around 10 to 13 years ago, I brought my children together and asked them whether to continue the tradition or not, as I myself was not very keen to continue the tradition for so many reasons, her not being around being one of them. My being non-believer, atheist being last. Both chorused unanimously 'No' and the tradition continued.
Years after, one day my elder one jumped out of the seat shouting 'Baba come immediately, see what he is saying'. He was watching Nana Patekar's interview being conducted on a Marathi channel and Nana was echoing exactly the same about bringing Ganapati what I had said years ago. I just chuckled and left at that.
But it was to be repeated. I once was reading an article on Nana and again got a jolt. He turned out to be the only one from the filmy fraternity to openly put the onus on Sanjay Dutt's shoulders for his own misendevour. I had always felt that Sanjay got away, to be absolutely frank, with minuscule of sentence for his crime which practically amounted to sedition. And I simply abhorred the reaction from his filmy near and dear ones who are dying to cast him in their next ventures as soon as he is released from the jail. Nana is the only one who has said that 'He is not going to work with Sanjay in future'.
But my bonding with Nana ends at these points only.
His ruffian street smart image, stories being circulated about his brash behaviour [ showing pistol to the fellow driver on the highway in a road fracas], his generosity, his extremely volatile but emotional nature, jarred at least to me. I always felt that it's a facade carefully cultivated to nurture the image. A ruffian with a heart of gold. And it did not stop there, it seeped in the characters on the screen too. All those roles where he was presented as a good Samaritan but with extremely loud and grotesque mannerisms became widely popular. Almost amounting to a schizophrenic like what Jack Nicholson does on the Hollywood scene.
When any Tom Dick Harry from the obscure street opera starts mimicking you, you come down as an actor, I have said before. Stylized acting is NO acting. And we had Nana repeating it in film after film. And so, now we see dime a dozen Nanas everywhere, in all orchestras, mimicry shows on TV and whatnot. And so I become always sceptical when he tries something new. I was when he came out with Dr Praksh Baba Amte. Though he was superlative in most of the film, that ruffian Nana surfaced in instances where it was not called for.
And I am now bothered about Nat Samrat. Dr Lagu has taken the role to such a height that it is probably impossible for anybody to break that bar. Mainly Dr Lagu's Nat Samrat was soft, caring, gentle and sensitive, all the characters that are miles away from what Nana has projected in the past so far. In real life too? Don't know, because, to come it out on your face, in your body language, it has to be there in you in somewhere. Or is it what acting is all about To project what you are not. Nana?
I really don't know where to put Nana in this category. For years together he has been doing exemplary work without even the whispering grass from the mythological stories knowing about it. How much he might have donated only 'he' knows. By he, I mean God because Nana knows only to give. Only lately his philanthropic work is seeing the pages of the newspaper. Is it catharsis or real Nana surfacing at last? Then what about those stories of his volatile explosions, rough and brash outbursts?
Whatever! A big big whatever !! I am going to watch Nat Samrat for many many reasons. I have to, it being. Mr V V Shirwadkar's masterpiece offering is the one to start with, but Nana donating his part of the income from the movie, to the drought-stricken farmers of Maharashtra will top them all!
But it was to be repeated. I once was reading an article on Nana and again got a jolt. He turned out to be the only one from the filmy fraternity to openly put the onus on Sanjay Dutt's shoulders for his own misendevour. I had always felt that Sanjay got away, to be absolutely frank, with minuscule of sentence for his crime which practically amounted to sedition. And I simply abhorred the reaction from his filmy near and dear ones who are dying to cast him in their next ventures as soon as he is released from the jail. Nana is the only one who has said that 'He is not going to work with Sanjay in future'.
But my bonding with Nana ends at these points only.
His ruffian street smart image, stories being circulated about his brash behaviour [ showing pistol to the fellow driver on the highway in a road fracas], his generosity, his extremely volatile but emotional nature, jarred at least to me. I always felt that it's a facade carefully cultivated to nurture the image. A ruffian with a heart of gold. And it did not stop there, it seeped in the characters on the screen too. All those roles where he was presented as a good Samaritan but with extremely loud and grotesque mannerisms became widely popular. Almost amounting to a schizophrenic like what Jack Nicholson does on the Hollywood scene.
When any Tom Dick Harry from the obscure street opera starts mimicking you, you come down as an actor, I have said before. Stylized acting is NO acting. And we had Nana repeating it in film after film. And so, now we see dime a dozen Nanas everywhere, in all orchestras, mimicry shows on TV and whatnot. And so I become always sceptical when he tries something new. I was when he came out with Dr Praksh Baba Amte. Though he was superlative in most of the film, that ruffian Nana surfaced in instances where it was not called for.
And I am now bothered about Nat Samrat. Dr Lagu has taken the role to such a height that it is probably impossible for anybody to break that bar. Mainly Dr Lagu's Nat Samrat was soft, caring, gentle and sensitive, all the characters that are miles away from what Nana has projected in the past so far. In real life too? Don't know, because, to come it out on your face, in your body language, it has to be there in you in somewhere. Or is it what acting is all about To project what you are not. Nana?
I really don't know where to put Nana in this category. For years together he has been doing exemplary work without even the whispering grass from the mythological stories knowing about it. How much he might have donated only 'he' knows. By he, I mean God because Nana knows only to give. Only lately his philanthropic work is seeing the pages of the newspaper. Is it catharsis or real Nana surfacing at last? Then what about those stories of his volatile explosions, rough and brash outbursts?
Whatever! A big big whatever !! I am going to watch Nat Samrat for many many reasons. I have to, it being. Mr V V Shirwadkar's masterpiece offering is the one to start with, but Nana donating his part of the income from the movie, to the drought-stricken farmers of Maharashtra will top them all!
Nana patekar is my fav
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